Landau Peace Lecture with military pastor Alexander Liermann on June 18, 2018.

Military pastor Alexander Liermann has been the military pastor for the Rhine-Main region since 2007 and spent four months accompanying German soldiers in Afghanistan's largest military camp, Mazar-e-Sharif. As part of the Landau Peace Lecture, Pastor Liermann not only reported on his impressions and experiences "as a pastor with the troops" in Afghanistan, but also posed the question of why - after all, this is a peace mission in a country that is scarred anew by violence every day. He sees himself as a "questioner" of military certainties by repeatedly bringing together and clashing images of humanity and the enemy, making it clear that those on the other side are first and foremost also human beings.

Anyone who sets off for Afghanistan as a military chaplain comes to an operational area that has forced a reassessment of military means over the last 15 years. Germany has experienced what it means to have to mourn dozens of fallen soldiers and treat hundreds of traumatized soldiers. But these sacrifices have not resulted in security - or was the political leadership not courageous enough to continue the "robust" ISAF (International Stabilization and Assistance Force) mandate, whatever the cost?

The ISAF stabilization mission became the "Resolute Support" (RS) training mission in 2015, but even this is unable to dispel doubts as to whether this country can be helped from outside - i.e. by state bodies such as the government, police and military.

Even if religious preaching, individual discussions about private and service-related problems and the general self-claim to be "a good spirit" for as many soldiers as possible in the monotony of service operations predominated in Pastor Liermann's practical work, the question of the meaning of this deployment of the German military (and German police) was highly relevant there. After all, it is not least the question of meaning or nonsense that determines how much a person can endure and how loyal he or she is to their command.

Landau Peace Lecture with military pastor Alexander Liermann on June 18, 2018.

Military pastor Alexander Liermann has been the military pastor for the Rhine-Main region since 2007 and spent four months accompanying German soldiers in Afghanistan's largest military camp, Mazar-e-Sharif. As part of the Landau Peace Lecture, Pastor Liermann not only reported on his impressions and experiences "as a pastor with the troops" in Afghanistan, but also posed the question of why - after all, this is a peace mission in a country that is scarred anew by violence every day. He sees himself as a "questioner" of military certainties by repeatedly bringing together and clashing images of humanity and the enemy, making it clear that those on the other side are first and foremost also human beings.

Anyone who sets off for Afghanistan as a military chaplain comes to an operational area that has forced a reassessment of military means over the last 15 years. Germany has experienced what it means to have to mourn dozens of fallen soldiers and treat hundreds of traumatized soldiers. But these sacrifices have not resulted in security - or was the political leadership not courageous enough to continue the "robust" ISAF (International Stabilization and Assistance Force) mandate, whatever the cost?

The ISAF stabilization mission became the "Resolute Support" (RS) training mission in 2015, but even this is unable to dispel doubts as to whether this country can be helped from outside - i.e. by state bodies such as the government, police and military.

Even if religious preaching, individual discussions about private and service-related problems and the general self-claim to be "a good spirit" for as many soldiers as possible in the monotony of service operations predominated in Pastor Liermann's practical work, the question of the meaning of this deployment of the German military (and German police) was highly relevant there. After all, it is not least the question of meaning or nonsense that determines how much a person can endure and how loyal he or she is to their command.